Wednesday, February 14, 2007

COUNTERVIEWS: Patrick Cockburn talks about Iraq (part 1)

Tao Ruspoli interviews Patrick Cockburn (pronounced kÅbÉËn) (born March 5, 1951) is an Irish journalist who has been a Middle East correspondent since 1979 for the Financial Times and the Independent . Among the most experienced commentators on Iraq, he was one of the few journalists to remain in Baghdad during the first Gulf War. He is based in Jerusalem as a correspondent for the Independent, and has been filing reports on the war in Iraq. He has consistently displayed a pessimistic outlook for Iraq's future and considers the 2003 invasion of Iraq and its aftermath as a catastophic failure.

His most recent book, following award-winning reporting from Iraq, is "The Occupation" published by Verso Books. Mixing first hand accounts with reporting, Cockburn's book is critical of the invasion as well as the Salafi fundamentalists who comprise much of the resistance.

Cockburn's memoir is The Broken Boy, a memoir of his childhood in 1950s Ireland when he caught and survived polio. His previous books include Out of the Ashes: The Resurrection of Saddam Hussein, written with Andrew Cockburn.

2 comments:

Hi!My name is Whitney Hoffman and I’m an intern with Chris Brogan over at Network2.TV. We’d like to add you to our email list, and were wondering if there was a preferred contact email you’d like to share. (No spam, I promise!)

I love when you guys interview the Cockburns.. I used to be conservative, figuring I would just take the view my parents had. But after doing my own research (lots of it) I can definitely say I am no longer conservative. The Cockburns are absolutely brilliant

Tao founded LAFCO in 2000. The Los Angeles Filmmakers Cooperative, is a bohemian
collective of filmmakers and musicians who work out of a converted
school bus. Through LAFCO, Tao has produced several films and helped
dozens of filmmakers to make their first films and discover the wonders
of digital media.

His producing credits include the feature film Camjackers, which he also acted in and co-edited. Camjackers won the best editing award at the 44th Ann Arbor Film Festival.

Tao is an accomplished flamenco guitar player, and his first CD, Flamenco, was released on Mapleshade Records in 2005.